her, spent time appreciating his rigging, and then sent her to bed.
MASTRV: I’m here, C. I wondered what happened to you. It’s been almost a week. I was out on the road, so my schedule was crazy. I wondered if I’d missed you.
CHAINSFREE: I’m here. New city, new apartment, new job.
MASTRV: Lots of changes. How are you holding up?
CHAINSFREE: Okay. I found a Dom. Pretty unexpected.
MASTRV: That explains why I haven’t heard from you in so long. New guy, or someone you’ve known?
CHAINSFREE: New guy. We’re not romantically involved.
Technically Wilder wasn’t new in her life, but on that mountain, it had felt like they’d buried the past. That only left the future. Plus, she wouldn’t have to explain so much to Master V.
MASTRV: That’s what you wanted, right?
CHAINSFREE: Yes. It’s exactly what I wanted.
MASTRV: So what’s wrong?
CHAINSFREE: We did some bondage tonight. I’ve never been tied up and not touched.
When she’d first encountered Master V, they had talked at length about her sexual history and his. He’d helped her find the strength to leave relationships that weren’t working for her. But they’d never flirted. She appreciated how he’d been able to read between the lines of all her rants to point out to her that perhaps she needed to find a Dom who didn’t want to have sex with her.
MASTRV: How do you feel about that?
CHAINSFREE: I feel curiously free. I know I pleased him, and that makes me feel so good inside. But now I’m horny.
MASTRV: And you don’t want to cross that line with him. Don’t feel bad about that.
CHAINSFREE: You know me so well. I feel like we’ve taken such a great first step. I don’t want to mess it up.
MASTRV: It’s good to build a foundation of trust and respect before you go heaping on sex and the complications it brings. If he hasn’t prohibited you from seeking satisfaction, spend some quality time with your vibrator.
CHAINSFREE: I know I should. I just don’t want to do it alone. I miss having a Dom take charge. It makes a huge difference.
It was a risk. Lydia had never asked anything like this from Master V, even in a roundabout way. But her vague hint was something he could brush off without having to feel like he’d let her down. Moments ticked by, measured by the silence of the room, which was broken only by the beating of her heart. The apartment was quiet, indicating that Wilder must have gone to bed. They hadn’t discussed whether or not she could masturbate. If he caught her, would he spank her? If she asked and said, Pretty please?
MASTRV: C, are you asking me to help you?
CHAINSFREE: Only if you want to. It’s not your problem or your responsibility.
MASTRV: I don’t want it to ruin our friendship. You mean a great deal to me.
CHAINSFREE: I don’t want to ruin it either. I’m sorry. It’s unfair for me to ask you to supplement my Dom.
MASTRV: Yes, it is. Talk to him, C. Tell him what you want. If he’s a real man, he’ll make sure your needs are met. If not, then dump him. You deserve better.
No way in hell she was going to tell Wilder he’d made her so horny she nearly solicited a proxy and ruined a friendship. It was one thing to combine the men when both were pipe dreams. Wilder wasn’t closer to being more than a Dom to her, but that didn’t mean it was okay for her to pursue Master V. After two years, she couldn’t suddenly change the parameters of their relationship.
CHAINSFREE: I will. Thanks, Master V. I don’t know what I’d do without you.
MASTRV: You’d be stuck in a relationship that didn’t make you happy. Now tell me about the new job and the new apartment. Does it have a bigger bathroom? You hated your old one.
Lydia laughed. Her old bathroom had barely been large enough for her to move, and it lacked a bathtub. She used to house-sit for her parents just so she could take a bath the way she liked. The master bathroom here had a huge soaker tub with jets, and it was large enough for two.
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